Minutes-12-12-2023-Business Meeting

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19 Kelly Fox said she wanted to show her support for Grow Your World and the other re-entry youth organizations. She said she is involved with Grow Your World and helped organize a summer camp. She said as an educator, she has seen the need for providing opportunities for children. She said she thinks that more children are affected by opioids than we might realize. She said they are surrounded by opioid addicted parents. She said that early intervention is needed. Avergine RL spoke in support of Grow Your World. She said that prevention for adolescents and youth that use opioids is necessary. She said students work together and create a family when they are with programs like Grow Your World. She said she has three children and she said she volunteers with Chapel Hill. She said when children are paid attention to, they grow up better. She said that everyone in Orange County helps make little parts better. Bridget Pemberton-Smith said she works in art therapy, and they do amazing work. She said she has an intimate understanding of what it takes to run a nonprofit. She said that a major struggle for non-profit is paying employees an adequate wage. She said she has always felt her staff was underpaid and she asked that the Board review allowing the funds to be used for capacity building. She said that the children are the youngest victims of the opioid epidemic. She said this problem needs a lot more than a Band-Aid. Shady Kimzey is an art mentor with Grow Your World. She read from the following statement: I am currently working with Grow Your World on an opioid abuse awareness project. I saw the impacts of over-prescription as a child. I had to be the adult in the room. That is just one reason that it matters to me to speak on this issue. In this collaborative project with GYW we have worked with the community on each component, using art to get our message across. For DEAH Day of Service at UNC, I worked with community members to create a 4 foot by 6-foot two-tone face created entirely of child-safety pill bottle lids, to put a face to the opioid crisis. I then worked with a justice-involved high school student in an art mentorship, where we wrote out DBT skills that help us manage our mental health. DBT is a behavior skills therapy that is used in substance abuse treatment and has a special protocol that is effective for those with substance use disorder called DBT-SUD. American Addition Centers use DBT because "DBT clients showed reduced substance abuse, and they were more likely to continue therapy than those in traditional treatment." I am now working on part 2 of that project, which is getting those DBT skills into the hands of teenagers and community members through interactive art projects that are still in process. Art is not only an effective method for spreading awareness, starting conversations, and informing the public, but the community members participating are engaging in positive social and emotional activities that relieve stress and build a sense of purpose. Shady Kimzey showed a list of helpful skills created by one of her students, such as taking a night walk, stargazing, making art, talking to someone, cooking, or going for a car ride. She said these skills keep people from going into distress and prevent people from engaging in destructive behaviors. Shady Kimzey continued her statement: According to the Mayo Clinic, risk of opioid addiction is greater for people who: • In their teens or early 20s. • Have a personal or family history of substance misuse • Are living with stress, including being unemployed or living below the poverty line • Have a history of problems with work, family and friends • Have a history of taking part in crimes or having legal issues, including DUls • Have serious depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder • Have a history of physical or sexual abuse • Take part in risky or thrill-seeking behavior